As someone who lives in her head and loves theory, I knew one of the biggest things I needed out of this year was to experience what doing user experience and service design really felt like. If nothing else, that is exactly what I got out of my first term. For 3+ months, I essentially worked as a service designer and researcher in a full-fledged employee capacity, with all of its varying dynamics and complex contexts.

Before, reading theory books about human-centered design was interesting but difficult. Now, when I read about design theories, I can connect back to my experiences in the field and contextualize how that practice can be applied. This will help me digest and remember new information much better. The service design process is incredibly messy, confusing, dynamic, and too subtle at times to easily describe well. The way to learn it was to live it!